Toddlers and 2-Year Old Programming
"I'm just a kid, I have a lot of stuff to do yet."
~ Clint Eastwood
Our commitment to quality care continues in our Toddler and 2-year old rooms. Children at this age are eager learners who energetically interact with materials and people. We at the center realize that an environment and curriculum that encourages each child's growing need of independence is a basis for developing and mastering life skills and a positive self esteem. By playing in both large and small groups, these children will learn valuable social skills needed to effectively interact with others. While engaging in fun activities toddlers and 2-year olds will discover their likes and talents and will be exposed to fundamentals such as: colors, shapes, self-help skills, as well as social and language development.
Children under the age of 2 years old will have a notebook system for direct communication with their teacher(s). In this notebook the teacher will log the daily activities, feedings and the rest times of your child. Parents will be asked to list pertinent information that will ensure the individualized schedule of each child is up-to-date, to inculde but not limited to: the last time your child ate, slept and was changed, as well as mood and sleeping patterns of the night before. Parents of 2-year olds will find daily information posted in the Parent Area of the room.
Arts for Kids has an individualized program for the needs of children ages of
6-weeks to 2-years old.
All children will have individual contact and attention through feeding, diapering and learning experience.
Each child will follow their individual routine of feeding and sleeping set by their home environment.
The children will be provided with equipment to fit their educational development and creative expression appopriate to their age level.
Daily communication with parents:
~ A notebook for each child under two years of age will be sent home with parents summarizing child's activities.
Parents will bring back notebook with information for teachers.
Staff will ensure that throughout the day infants will be moved into different activities.
Potty Training Policy
If parents and the center are in agreement that a child is developmentally ready, Arts for Kids will begin to encourage potty training at age 2.
At 2-1/2 years old age, regular potty training is part of our daily program and routine. Children will be encouraged to wear pull-ups or underwear (depending on progress) and have plenty of extra pull-ups or underwear on hand. They will be taken to the bathroom every 2 hours (possibly more often at the beginning). If a child is wearing underwear, they will be put in a pull-up or diaper for naps, unless completely trained. We will use lots of praise for a "job well done" and lots of understanding when "accidents happen" if a child has a rough day.
Sometimes potty training can happen overnight and sometimes it can be a long process - we just need to have a lot of patience.
November 2025 News!
Toddler I
Hello parents!
This last month we said goodbye to one of our friends. She now gets to stay at home with mom everyday! Another friend has begun walking and no longer relies on crawling to move around! This month we plan on focusing on taking turns and spoon dexterity while eating meals.
Some fall themes we will go over include Forest Animals, Weather,
Colors of Fall, and of course Thanksgiving!
Ms. Rachel & Ms. Tina
Toddler II
Hello Toddler II Families!
This month we’re diving into fun fall themes as we learn about Forest Animals, Weather, Colors of Fall, and Thanksgiving. During our Forest Animals theme, the toddlers will explore woodland creatures like owls, bears, deer, and foxes through songs, stories, art, and movement activities. For our Weather theme, we’ll talk about sunshine, rain, and wind while using scarves to make “wind,” splashing in pretend puddles, and creating art inspired by the changing sky. As we move into our Colors of Fall theme, the children will explore the beautiful reds, oranges, yellows, and browns of the season through hands-on painting and sensory play. To finish out the month, we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving by focusing on thankfulness, family, and friends with turkey crafts, stories about sharing, and conversations about what makes us happy. As the weather cools down, please be sure to check your child’s cubby for appropriate clothing and send a jacket or sweater each day. Keep an eye out for upcoming Thanksgiving activities, and thank you for sharing your wonderful toddlers with us each day!
– Ms. Kenzie & Ms. Kayla
Toddler III
Hello Families!
This November, our toddlers will be exploring the wonders of the season! We’ll be learning all about forest animals—from busy squirrels collecting acorns to owls perched in the trees. Our weather theme will have us watching for windy days, crisp air, and falling leaves, helping little ones connect the changes outside to our classroom activities. As we get closer to Thanksgiving, we’ll talk about turkeys and enjoy fun art projects like feather collages and handprint turkeys. We’ll also read stories about gratitude and practice simple ways to say “thank you” to friends and family.
We can’t wait to celebrate this cozy season with songs, crafts, and lots of learning!
Just a friendly reminder to check your child’s cubby and replace their extra clothes as they grow. Additionally, please bring in hats, gloves, a warm jacket, and sturdy shoes for outdoor play, as the weather is getting chilly.
—Ms Erica
2's I
Welcome November!
Things that I work on in my classroom are: using a spoon, drinking out of a regular cup, gentle touches, sharing toys, sharing toys, cleaning up their toys when done playing with them, potty training, ABC’s, 1 to 5 counting, saying their names, and many other things.
Parents please check your child’s cubby for important paperwork or artwork. Also, please make sure that your child has a coat, sweatshirt in their cubby daily. We go outside unless it is below zero outside. Please also make sure they have extra clothes in their cubby.
Our themes last month were: Fire Safety, Friendship, Harvest/Pumpkins, and Halloween. The kiddos loved when my friend Mr. Steve the fireman came in with the fire truck to talk and show the kids about fire safety. They also loved trick or treating in the mall and getting in costumes. That is my favorite part, seeing the kiddos in their costumes!
Our themes this month are: Healthy Habits, Apples, Transportation, and Thanksgiving.
We will be having Parent/Teacher conferences this month. I will post the sign up sheets by my door when they are available.
Parents, if you have any questions/concerns please feel free to talk to me personally or on the parent app. I’m always available to meet your needs and support you any way I can.
I hope everyone has a wonderful month and Thanksgiving!
Thank you,
Ms. Ashley
2's-II
Hello all and welcome fall,
I hope everyone is staying warm and feeling healthy. With the cool weather, please make sure that your child has the appropriate gear for when we go outside. In the beginning of last month we had the chance to talk about superheroes. We talked about what makes a superhero-helping, showing respect, listening, being nice, and caring. The kids loved using their fine motor skills to do-a-dot their mask and wearing them of course. The following week was all about our community helpers. Fire chief Steve came to visit with the fire truck and the kids loved it. They especially enjoyed spraying the hose. The next week was all about friendship. I have a really good group of kids that knows how to share really well (for the most part lol) and knows how to be a good friend. We got to do so many fun activities with our friends like Ring around the Rosie, rolling a ball, passing the bean bag, and painting with them. The second to last week in October we focused on apples and pumpkins. We talked about the lifecycles of pumpkins and apples and how they start our small and become big just like us. We got some really juicy delicious apples from Ms. Marie for snack one day with peanut butter and the kids loved it. We felt inside of a pumpkin but some of us didn’t like how it felt. The last week we celebrated Halloween by doing fun matching activities, playing with green goo, making Halloween treats, and trick or treating. It was a great month and I cannot wait to do many more activities with the kiddos this month. Have a wonderful thanksgiving.
Ms. Laura
2's-III
Hello all and welcome to November in 2’s III!
We had a wonderful time learning through play last month as we explored the themes of Firefighters, Friendship, Harvest, and Halloween.
For some hands on learning about fire safety during Firefighter week, we were blessed with a visit by Firefighter Steve! We got to see all the equipment firefighters use and see the gear they wear. Firefighter Steve showed us that even though firefighters look strange with their gear on, they are there to help us, and we don’t have to be afraid of them. He even let us spray the fire hose! We also discussed our monthly fire-drills and what to do and where our evacuation point is when we hear the fire alarm.
Our language skills are improving every day! With answering the question of the day, looking at the theme of the week related books, and even learning some sign language each day, we have really built on our vocabulary! We also used these moments to work on our social and emotional skills as we took turns talking, discussed how events like Halloween and different activities with our friends make us feel, talked about foods like that get harvested this time of year and listened to each others ideas and thoughts.
To help us with our social skills we built on the concepts of working together and helping others through group activities such as pretend play and building with blocks/Duplo together.
We are becoming great athletes with our large motor activities! From tag, bubble chasing, playing catch, walking the balance beam, corn hole, and even yoga we are having a great time learning what our muscles can do!
Our fine motor skills are really coming along too! We have been practicing our eye hand coordination daily using different items in our sand and water tables, such as pipettes/droppers, scoops, and funnels, as well as working on puzzles and small group games and activities. We have also built our muscles in our hands and used our imaginations as we did art activities with cookie cutters, paint brushes, stickers, colored pencils, crayons, and even zip lock bags, bubble wrap, and q-tips! We also got some scissor and cookie cutter practice while exploring play-dough.
We finished off the month with the fun side of Halloween as we went trick or treating! What fun we had! Thank you to all who brought in costumes, it was great to see all the cute looks.
As we head into a new month, we will be starting things off with an emotions theme.
As always, if you have any questions about your child or what we are doing, please don’t hesitate to ask! If I don’t see you at drop off or pick up, feel free to message me on Lillio.
Have a wonderful month!
Ms. Sara B and 2’s III
